I'm in the middle of the show "13 Reasons Why", and I had to stop my episode to write this article. While Hannah Baker, the main character of the show had thirteen reasons on why she committed suicide, the truth is she only needed one to live. That one reason is that life is worth living.

I'm sure everyone has experienced bullying at some point in their life. Whether they were the bully, were the person that was being bullied, or just simply watched on, somehow it seems everyone plays a role in this phenomenon. Hell, I was even bullied. I can relate very closely with Hannah's story, and here's why.

In my freshman year of high school, I was the "popular girl." I was friends with everyone, I was invited to every party, and had a great "high school experience." Well, that all changed. Friends became enemies, people talked, and by senior year I was left with practically nobody. The kids at my school became harsh and never had anything nice to say. I became the "fat girl", the "slut", the girl that everybody talked about. I was hated by people I didn't even do anything to. By my senior year, I spent almost every single day in my guidance counselors office, not wanting to be around the people I was forced to spend 8 hours a day with. Rumors were spread about me involving god knows what, and all the while I had to play dumb as to what was going on around me because if I even showed that I cared for a second, it would get worse. People were cruel. I went through periods of self-harm because of it, and even considered transferring schools before my senior year had stated. Even after I graduated high school, there was a "no maria" group made involving some of my ex-best friends saying terrible things about me, and posts saying mean things about me on social media. I was even told to drop dead a few times, and that "everyone was so happy that their mutual hate for one person could bring everyone together." Imagine how many retweets that one got, right? Well, I was that "one person." I was the girl everybody loved to hate. Did I love it? No. I hated it. I even almost had to get a restraining order against more than one person, and almost had to file aggravated harassment charges against a few girls who wouldn't stop online bullying me. And yeah, to those who did partake in making my life a living hell, i'm directing this at you. If you want to get even more technical, those "thirteen reasons why" of my own could very well have been the thirteen reasons why I took my own life because of bullying. But guess what? I didn't. I'm still here. I am living proof that you can make it through bullying and come out okay in the long run. So, if I were to sum it up, I would have over thirteen reasons and people as to why I could have ended my life in high school like Hannah Baker did. However, I realized that life was worth living, and that regardless of what people who do bully have to say, my life was worth so much more.

This show is so raw and so important for every high schooler to watch. Everyone plays a role when someone is being bullied, even the person who "didn't do anything." The person who sat on the sideline as they read a mean text about someone, the person who "just opened" the nude picture they got sent of a girl in their class, and the person who observed a fight but didn't do anything. Not doing something is still doing something.

To the kid reading this who is experiencing bullying of any form, it will be okay. While it may not seem like it now, in the end, things will be alright. You are worth more than your feelings of not wanting to be on this earth anymore. Regardless of what people are saying or doing, you are stronger than your feelings of self-harm or suicide. Words may hurt, but the loss that everyone will feel because you are gone will hurt more. You won't get to experience the rest of your life if you end it now because of what other people are saying or doing.

To the kid reading this who is the bully, it ends here. Your words and actions can very well cause someone to want to take their life, or even worse, actually take their own life. You can control how you treat each person you encounter, and no feeling of hate or anger can ever justify if someone took their life because of it.

To the person onlooking to someone being bullied, be that persons one person. Be the person that is there for that person, regardless of how "uncool" you may look. Tell someone about it, report it to a teacher, a guidance counselor, or another friend. Make a difference, you never know if your kindness could be the one reason that someone stays alive that day.

Imagine the fact that if you are considering taking your life because you are being bullied, you will never get to attend prom, graduation, never get to get married, and never get to experience all of the joy that life has to offer. You will never get to realize just how much your life meant to those around you-your parents, your friends, and your loved ones. Now if you are the bully, imagine taking all of that away from someone because of your harsh words, your actions, or your inability to act and help someone who was in need because they were being bullied.

Sometimes, it only takes one action for someone to feel like they don't belong anymore. It may only take one instance for someone to hurt themselves or someone to want to end it all. Or, it could be many little reasons put together that pushed someone to do something that they couldn't take back. Nobody deserves to lay in bed at night hating themselves because of what another person has said or done to them. Nobody deserves to feel worthless, and nobody deserves to feel like their death wouldn't matter.

So, while Hannah Baker may have had thirteen reasons as to why she took her own life, there was still one reason for her to stay alive. Life is worth living regardless of what other people may say or do. Nobody is worth dying over the hatred of another person. Bullying isn't worth the outcome of a potential suicide because someone couldn't take it anymore.